Lately, my wrists are feeling stiff and stingy. Despite years of video gaming and poor office posture, I thought I had avoided carpal tunnel syndrome.

The all-nighters playing "Diablo III" didn't help at all. I can blame only myself for my pain. But waiting more than a decade for the third installment in the franchise, I raged through the game like a 5-year-old at a Swensen's Ice Cream shop.

"Diablo III" is darn good. Blizzard Entertainment surely knows how to craft a great game that's fun to play and engrossing to watch.

In all honesty, Blizzard could simply release a revised "Diablo II," using today's graphics, and I would probably be pleased. It didn't: "Diablo III" is familiar for the die-hard fans - click on a monster to attack it. Simple. But the changes in skills management and the added items crafting are very welcome.

Before, players had to carefully choose their leveled skills when building their character. Now, a leveled character receives a few skills in their bank of various abilities. This bank becomes a flexible foundation for various character customizations, which you readjust to match your playing style and which greatly improves gameplay with online friends.

You're not tied down to a traditional character class role in your team - tank, healer or damage dealer. One minute, you're a healer; the next hour, you're tearing through a skeletal army with your cropped-hair monk and her fisticuffs.

But "Diablo III," while addictive, can be incredibly frustrating.

A player logs into his or her Battle.net account, which requires constant Internet connection, pinging data to its server, verifying the legitimacy of the game copy. Offline play isn't an option. With spotty AT&T Internet service at both my home and my friend's apartment, the game keeps booting me out to the log-in screen in the middle of frantic throw-downs. Whatever explorative progress you've made is lost.

On the plus side, the active Internet connectivity benefits multiplayer gaming: Anyone can instantly join a session, either with someone from their friends list or publicly opened games. On occasion, fellow Playing Games writer Casey Newton drops by with his emo-goth wizard, freezing monsters and saying "Hi," while another friend would crash the party. I love the seamless drop-in-and-play approach to multiplayer, which feels inviting, spontaneous and social.

"Diablo III" isn't perfect, but it's the closest of anything I've played recently. And Blizzard is a developer that constantly tweaks its game mechanics. So players should expect future patches for "Diablo III."